Showdown
by chappers
Summary: Tony's had enough, Gibbs has pushed him too far this time!
1. Chapter 1

A/N - This is my first ever fan-fic, so please rewiew, but be kind! I do not own these characters, but wish I did. This came to me the other day, I was feeling generally annoyed at life, the universe and everything and decided to take it out on L. on Tony's behalf! Set sometime after the first episode of season six. Maybe a one-shot unless I can get my head around the next chapter!

It had been a tough case, Gibbs was never good when it involved children, but he'd been extra hard on the team all day, Dinozzo as usual took most of the fallout, though the team was still shocked when Gibbs vented his anger on Tony by giving him a very public dressing down in front of everyone, including the local PD, for what he viewed as goofing off, not noticing that Tony had actually acquired vital information, which later solved the case, in the process.

Later that day they'd returned to the bullpen, exhausted, the case was over, but it was not a happy conclusion, the father was in custody and Gibbs was still on edge, he and Dinozzo had been distant with each other ever since the confrontation that morning, McGee and Ziva tiptoeing around the two of them as much as possible. They were writing up their reports when Tony exclaimed loudly over some error on his computer. McGee and Ziva were amazed to see him stand up.

"I've had enough, I'm going home, I'll finish this in the morning"

Grabbing his coat and weapon, he swung his bag onto his shoulder and began to walk away.

"You will finish that report now, Agent Dinozzo" Gibbs growled dangerously. "Sit down."

McGee and Ziva were even more surprised when Tony did not back down, instead he turned towards Gibbs and glared at him

Gibbs was angered by his show of disobedience "When you are good enough to have your own team then you can make your own decisions, _Dinozzo_, until then you do as I say"

Tony took a few long strides till he was standing at Gibbs desk, "I _was _offered my own team" Dinozzo spoke softly, but his voice carried across the bull-pen, MCGee and Ziva exchanged glances, this was news to them. " Jenny offered me the position when you came back from Mexico and I turned her down, _why?_, because the great Leroy Jethro Gibbs was back and I always had his six" His voice became louder and more determined "I've taken the head slaps, I've been blown up, stabbed, shot, hell, I nearly died of the plague, I've dragged you out of a sunken car and had to make the decision whether to save you or the girl, do you know how tough that was? And yet you chew me out in front of a bunch of strangers, like I was a probie. Is it that I went undercover without telling you? Did you give any thought to how I was feeling, how my life had been turned upside down, no, all you cared about was that I'd kept secrets from you, that the director and I had shut you out all that time and you hadn't figured out why" He paused to take a ragged breath, Gibbs was too stunned to reply "Or do you blame me for Jenny's death? Did I screw up somehow? I lay awake at night thinking up a hundred ways I could have done it differently, but she was the director and I followed her orders, if I hadn't, maybe I could have saved her, or, maybe we'd have all died too, no matter what, I can't go back and change what happened. But I can change what happens from now. Do you think Abby is the only one to get job offers? I've had enough" His badge made a soft clink in the silent bullpen as it hit Gibb's desk, his weapon followed closely behind it "Director Vance will have my resignation in the morning" He turned and with a curt nod to the others strode away.

Gibb's leapt up, his face furious, snatching up Dinozzo's badge he took a step... and then stopped, McGee and Ziva were shocked to see the fury drain from his face and he sat back down, staring at the badge he held in his hands. They exchanged glances and then diplomatically got back to typing their reports, a few moments later they looked up as Gibb's gathered his things and spoke to them wearily "Go home people" and, lacking his usual purpose, walked to the elevator.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N - Sorry this is so short, I was so touched by your reviews I just had to do some more, but my dinners congealing! I'm afraid grammer isn't my strong suit and there are way too many "He's" here. And I tend to type this in fast flow as I worry if I don't get my ideas down fast enough they'll run away, but I'll do my best to keep these readable!

**********

Gibbs sat on the floor of his basement, back against his workbench, staring at the wet patch on the wall and pile of glass below it, evidence of an almost full bottle of liquor wasted.

He had tried to work on the boat. The manual labour which always brought him such comfort seemed almost to mock him, he lavished so much love and attention on a dead piece of wood. Yet he failed to notice that he had pushed away the man whom, when he allowed himself those emotions, he had considered to be, well, as good as a son.

He leant his head back against the cool wood, looking back over his actions, trying to see them through Tony's eyes and he didn't like what he saw. He knew how he felt about Dinozzo, he had great respect for him as an agent. He always trusted Tony to have his six and even the way Tony felt his own mistakes made Gibbs proud. He didn't shrug them off of try to blame them on others, like some men did. But when did Gibb's ever show him that, especially since he came back from retirement. He had always been bad at showing his feelings, but why had it gotten worse?

Gibb's grunted with wry amusement at the realisation, Ducky would be proud of his psychological profiling.

He had come back from retirement and everything was the same, the team hadn't fallen apart in the absence of their team leader, Dinozzo had taken over the reins and they had carried on. Instead of being proud of Tony, he actually resented them for not falling apart without him, the great Leroy Jethro Gibbs as Tony had called him.

He needed to fix this and there was only one thing to do.

He laughed, amused at himself. He could walk through a warzone or into the midst of a shoot-out and yet he balked at the thought of discussing his feelings with another. It would take all of his infamous courage, but he knew it was what he had to do.

Purposeful now, he pushed himself up from the floor, barely noticing the protest from his bad leg, and went to find Dinozzo.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N – Most of this is written from Gibb's pov, although I adore Tony and this story seems to be about him, I feel it's actually more about Gibbs, I know a lot of you don't think he'd back down on this, but I think that he has just as many feelings as anyone else, he just doesn't know how to deal with them and buries it deep. Plus he's lost so much, I really can't see him letting Tony walk away too. I had intended to end the argument here, but I think things have gone too far for them to be resolved that easily. Plus I'm really tempted by the mentions of Abby's reactions in the reviews, she is going to go spare! Just hope I can do her justice! Apologies for this taking so long, but I've rewritten it at least three times and I guess this is as good as it's going to get.

*******

Gibb's first stop was Tony's apartment. Wanting to get this over before he lost his resolve, he had to resist the temptation to just kick the door down and knocked. After getting no reply he beat harder, the door almost bending under his assault, but still there was silence from the other side. Gibbs turned and leant back against a wall, there was no sound, no music, no late night movie marathon, Tony must have gone out, but where? Gibbs racked his memory for somewhere Tony would go, finding a lead he pushed off from the wall and almost jogged to his car.

Hoping his hunch was right, Gibb's stepped into the club, he scanned the room, taking in the bar, the stage where a skilled Jazz ensemble was playing and finally spotted Dinozzo, seated in one of the comfortable leather armchairs, nursing a full glass of amber liquid.

Gibbs lowered himself into the seat opposite Tony, on noticing his boss's arrival, looked taken aback for a second before his face shut down, his emotions carefully hidden, Gibbs seeing this realised just how good his agent was at that, before he leant back in the chair seemingly intent on the musicians, mind working overtime, trying to find the unaccustomed words to say. Tony, made uncomfortable by the silence and wanting to get whatever it was Gibbs wanted with him over with, spoke first. "Come to give me another dressing down Gibbs? Cause I got news for you, as of tomorrow morning I will no longer be your responsibility. I won't be a pain in your ass any more."

Gibbs shook his head and leant forward, elbows on his knees, "You really think that's what I want Dinozzo? The team needs you." He paused "Dammit, _I_ need you" Tony was shocked by this admission but he still had some anger left from the confrontation earlier "You mean _you_ need the team whipping boy around, well I'm sure McGee will shape up to that nicely, until he quits too."

Now it was Tony's turn to stare stony faced at the stage, trying to steel himself for another onslaught from the man he had so respected, even so he wasn't ready for the softness in Gibbs' voice as he sighed and spoke again.

"I never meant for it to get that bad." Tony's suspicious look brought out the anger that Gibbs' had tried to keep locked away. "You think I always know what's going on in that head of yours Dinozzo? You're probably the second best person I know for keeping his real thoughts and feelings hidden, makes you a great undercover cop, but I'm damned if I know what you're thinking half the time, you've got that clown act down so pat that that's all a lot of people see, sometimes you make it hard to see the competent detective that you really are, even for me."

Gibbs' sighed, pulling his anger back in check, shouting at Tony was what got them into this mess after all. In a more measured voice he spoke again. "I know you have my six Dinozzo, I trust you with my life and have done on many occasions, I know that you would willingly sacrifice yourself for any member of the team and, ya know, _that scares the hell out of me_. Everyday we walk out of that bullpen and I wonder if we'll all walk back in again. Losing Kate was hard enough." Gibbs paused looking around the room, before turning back to Tony, who was too shocked to speak. "But you Tony, I've lost two people I cared for once already, I didn't want to lose you too." He looked at Tony, who was looking out over the stage, trying to take in what had been said. "But it looks as though I did a pretty good job of that anyway"

They sat for a moment in silence, Gibbs' not knowing what effect his words had had, worrying that they might not be enough to undo the damage, he tried to keep his emotions in check as Tony stirred and finally spoke.

"I don't know Gibbs, I just don't know if I can go back, even knowing -" Tony waved his hands in the air, looking confused. "all of that. I need time to think."

Gibb's stared at him before nodding "Ok, you have plenty of leave to take, I'll square it with Vance in the morning" Tony nodded in reply and Gibbs made to leave, before pausing and placing his hand on Dinozzo's shoulder "Tony? Just don't take too long, ok?" Dinozzo's gaze was fixed on the stage as Gibbs left the club, but his mind was not on the music.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N – I think I've unleashed a monster, are all fanfics like this? You start off planning just one chapter, then maybe go to two or three and now I'd love to chicken out and finish this quickly, but it seems to want to go the long way round, anyone want to stay for the journey? I had planned a longer NCIS fic next, but I have a criminal minds fic which seems determined to be the next one, though when I'll find time to get it out of my head and whether it will be any good once it's written... ok, note to self, do not write authors notes at 11 o'clock at night, I sound like a nutcase! Anyway, hope you like this bit....

Gibbs walked into the bullpen next morning, coffee in his hand as usual. He was surprised to see both Ziva and McGee already at their desks. Though he didn't know whether to smile or frown as after a quick nod in his direction they both became apparently engrossed in the files on their desks. He sat down at this own desk, the empty desk opposite him playing on his mind, he idly flicked through the pile of memos and notes stacked there and toyed with the idea of actually reading a few of them for once, his thoughts were interrupted by McGee nervously clearing his throat.

"Er... Boss? Abby wanted to see you in her lab, she, um, said it was urgent."

Gibbs visibly grimaced, he took a gulp of coffee before standing up, deciding it was best to get this over with he made his way out of the bullpen. McGee and Ziva watched him go before exchanging sympathetic looks, they both glanced at the empty desk before silently continuing with their work.

The first thing Gibbs noticed on entering Abby's "lair" was the absence of loud music, that was a bad sign, the next thing was Abby herself as she bore down on him. She held Bert tight in her arms, her pigtails quivering angrily like Medusa's snakes as she clomped up to him, stopping half a stride away. She glared at him for a moment before beginning.

"How Gibbs? How could you let Tony do this! I can't believe you drove him away! We're, like, family, Gibbs!"

With each comment she thrust Bert at him, the farting noise he made as he hit Gibbs chest, would have been enough to make him laugh if it wasn't for the anguish on her face.

"I mean I know you have this whole "2nd B is for Bastard" thing going here Gibbs, but that's supposed to be used on the bad guys, not on us, not on Tony. You're supposed to be our Papa Bear and you made Tony leave, Gibbs" The tears in her eyes was almost more than he could bear "You can get him back Gibbs, can't you? You have to get him back Gibbs." He stepped forward pulling her into a hug, she rested her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm really going to miss him Jethro"

"I know Abs, I miss him too"

She pulled away slightly looking into his face determinedly "So you have to do something Gibbs"

"I have Abby." She looked at him hopefully. "But I don't know if it's enough"


End file.
